A Captain's Burden
by sparkylaurens
Summary: Prequel to Curse of the Black Pearl, set just briefly before the film. Jack/OC eventually in the series. This story introduces you to Katherine Jacobs.
1. Chapter 1

_It was the dead of night, she had been sleeping peacefully in her bed when it happened. The front door to their small home had been broken down, they had been found and there was no chance that they could escape, the home was too small for her to make it to her window without being noticed. She should have tried to stop it, or at least tried to save herself, but she was frozen. As soon as the two men knocked down her door they attacked her mother viciously before shooting her. As soon as the shot rang out their attention was on Katherine._

" _Don't try to run, sweetie. There's no use. It's just us and you now." The first man said with a smirk._

" _Your daddy tried to hide something from us sweetheart, we don't take kindly to that. To return the favor we're going to take something that's his." Their hands were all over her, she tried to break away, to scream for help, but all of her attempts were futile. By the time they were done with her Katherine Jacobs was a shell of her former self, laying naked on the dirt floor of the home she shared with her mother._

Katherine woke up in a cold sweat, it was the third time that week she'd had a dream of the horrible night six years ago when she was brutally attacked and left for dead, while her mother bled out less than six feet away. She was 21 now, and as much as she liked to say that she had managed to put the past behind her it only seemed that it was gone during the day, nearly every night since the attack she had nightmares about it. At least she had help, at least she had Gibbs.

Joshamee Gibbs was a good friend of her father's, he sailed with him for four years. Gibbs was on his way to warn Katherine and her mother Matilda that her father, Captain Robert Jacobs, was dead and that the men that killed him couldn't find what he stole. Gibbs thought that perhaps his Captain gave the maps to his wife for safe keeping and he was warning them to leave as quickly as possible. He was too late to save them from the attack, but he was there in time to save her, and for that Katherine was very thankful. Gibbs gave her space in his apartment in Tortuga to live, he helped her to fight, and he made her the pirate that she was today.

He'd been gone for months now on some expedition, but he'd sent word that he would be home that evening. To meet him, if she were in town, at The Faithful Bride at sundown. They had much to catch up on.

Katherine got out of bed and got ready for the day, well, er, evening. As it turns out she'd had a _bit_ too much fun the night before and slept the entire day away. Ah well, such was life in Tortuga! In a matter of minutes she was bolting out the door, eager to see her old friend that was basically a father to her. It had been too long, between her adventures and his they're barely seen each other the past year. The pair had never really sailed together, a lot of pirates thought it bad luck to have a woman on board, Gibbs was one of them. Although he did make an exception for Katherine more often than not. It was either piracy or prostitution for a woman her age living where she did and he would gladly sail with her rather than let her sell herself.

On her walk toward The Faithful Bride she saw the town come to life. Most establishments here ran for all 24 hours, but Tortuga really came alive at night. It was one of the few free ports in the Caribbean and it was constantly busy. In no time at all she had arrived at her destination. When she came in she could see Gibbs at their usual table in the back corner, but he wasn't alone.

"You know, Mister Gibbs, it is truly rude to be having drinks with another man when you're waiting on a lady," She joked as she approached the table, but when she saw who was sitting with him she almost immediately forgave him, "Jack Sparrow, it's been too long, mate."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read the first couple of chapters. Please leave a review if you feel so inclined. :)**

Both Gibbs and Jack looked up when they heard Katherine's voice. "I'm going to have to agree with you love, it's as if Mr. Gibbs here didn't want us seeing each other anymore." He said with a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as Katherine took a seat at the table between the two men.

Katherine noticed Gibbs sputtering a little as her took a swig of his drink. She knew very well why he kept her and Jack apart as much as possible, as much as he trusted Jack Sparrow he didn't trust him with Katherine. He had a reputation with women, and she knew that as well as Gibbs did, but there wasn't much keeping them apart. Their fathers had been friends, many of her childhood memories of sailing with her father involved running into Jack and his father when he was a teen and she was a young girl. "I thought you were out looking for the Pearl?" With Jack's determination she was sure that she wouldn't see him again until he had his beloved ship back.

"Aye, he was," Gibbs began, giving Jack the look he usually reserved for her when she had some half-brained idea, "but I think he's lost whatever is left of his mind."

"I will have you know that my mind is as intact as ever, I just feel it in my bones. I'm close this time Gibbs, but I can't do it alone." Jack retorted, feigning insult,. "I've heard tale that Jamaica may hold some answers to the questions surrounding getting the Pearl."

"Why come here then?" Katherine asked, bewildered. When the barmaid came around she gave Katherine a tankard of rum. "I didn't order this," She stated, prepared to give it back. She wasn't planning on doing much drinking that night.

"I know you didn't deary, that man over there did," She stated with a wink gesturing to a man at the bar.

It wasn't often that someone else bought her a drink, she lifted the tankard and tipped it towards the man. He was slightly attractive, she supposed, with dark hair and blue eyes, but unfortunately for him she wasn't looking for anyone this night or any other. She wouldn't refuse a free drink, though.

"Does that happen often?" Gibbs asked, confused. Looking behind him to get a look at the man that sent her the drink.

"Not terribly often, but I won't turn down a free drink. If he wanted to stand a chance he would have said something before sending it over here." Kat said with a smile, drinking the tankard to her lips and slightly wincing as the amber liquid burned down her throat. Rum was never really her drink of choice, but who was she to decline free booze. "Anyway, why did you come here if you've got a hunch on your beloved Pearl? I thought you would be chasing anything as soon as you could."

"The daft bastard wants me to tag along with him," Gibbs said annoyed, taking another swig of rum.

"I assumed you would want a little taste of adventure, Gibbs," Jack said feigning hurt, "You haven't had any real adventure in ages."

"I know what going after the Pearl entails, and until you have an actual plan on how to get her back I'm not going anywhere." Gibbs retorted. "I'm not going on a wild goose chase after Barbossa without the means to take him down."

"Believe in ghost stories, do you Gibbs?" Kat asked with a small smile, "If you're serious about needing someone to go with you this time I haven't got anything better going on," she offered suddenly excited about going on an adventure with Captain Jack Sparrow himself, not many could boast that on their resume.

"Well the scenery would definitely improve were you to join me on my little escapade, Kat," Jack said, his usual flirtatious smirk on his face.

Gibbs shot her a warning glance, the past six years that she'd lived with him he's warned her about going along with Jack's wild goose hunts for The Pearl. After all that time he'd spent looking after her she thought of him as a second father, usually she respected his wishes, but this time it just seemed silly. Jack was an old friend, she trusted him..mostly anyway. His concern warmed her heart, but she was old enough to take care of herself. The man had to learn to let go. Jack, sensing the sudden tension between the two, stood up abruptly claiming he needed to get more rum for the table.

"Before you can get a word out, I'm going. I've been sitting here idely for too long. I need to be out doing some real adventuring for the first time in a while. I trust Jack, he wouldn't get me killed on purpose. He wouldn't try to take advantage of me, well, unless I wanted him to." She added the last little bit in to see how Gibbs would react, his sputtering made her laugh hysterically.

"I know that you can take care of yerself lass, but that doesn't mean that I won't worry about you." Gibbs said drinking the last of his tankard.

"You've got to learn to let go, mate. I'll be fine." She reassured watching Jack saunter back from the bar. "So," she began as he sat down again, smiling in thanks for the second tankard of rum, "When are we leaving?"


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you all for being patient! I tried to write this chapter nearly one hundred times but I couldn't figure out how to do it. Please rate and review!**

" _Don't try to run, sweetie. There's no use. It's just you and us now."_

Kat opened her eyes breathing heavily, she'd had yet another nightmare. Light was already pouring in from the window next to her bed. "Shit!" she hissed under her breath, she was supposed to meet Jack at the docks first thing this morning, but it seemed she'd overslept. Her head was pounding from the drinks she had last night and she suddenly remembered why she didn't like to get drunk: the hangover the next day. She groaned and brought her hand to her head and attempted to get out of bed.

However, when she tried to get out of bed she found that she was trapped by an arm around her stomach, a decidedly muscular and tan arm. " _Oh no._ _._ " she thought to herself as she slowly rolled over to see who the arm belonged to. She was greeted by a tangle of black hair, and an extremely familiar face. " _Shit."_

"Good morning, love," Jack said, a lazy smile creeping on his face, "You know, you're a very fitful sleeper. I was hoping to at least get _some_ rest before we left this morning." His eyes remained closed as he stretched, which Kat figured was a good thing. It gave her a few seconds to hide the looks of shock and disgust from her face.

She didn't remember much from last night: in fact as far as she can remember back was just a couple of hours after Jack said that they were leaving first thing in the morning, when Gibbs left because he said he needed to attend to some 'very important business' now that he was back - which she figured was just a coverup for going after the woman he'd been staring at for half of the evening. She remembered her decision to have a few more rounds with Jack to celebrate the fact that she was getting off of that blasted island for the first time in a month. After that, it was nothing. She doesn't remember how she got to this room, which wasn't hers she noticed, or how she managed to wake up next to Captain Sparrow. "Exactly... _how much_ sleeping did we do last night, Jack?" she asked slowly, bracing herself for the answer.

Jack sat up and looked down at Kat with a glint of mischief in his eye, "You got much more sleep than I did, I'm afraid. As I said, you toss and turn the majority of the night. But sleeping is all that we did, I assure you." Kat involuntarily heaved a great sigh of relief, however it seemed Jack wasn't done reflecting on the previous night., "However, if I remember correctly you are a _fantastic_ kisser, darling. Rum seems to make you particularly frisky. But you were drunk, and as lovely as you are I wasn't going to take advantage of you: especially after I'd just promised Gibbs that I wouldn't."

Kat cringed, mentally adding that to the reason she shouldn't consume mass quantities of the amber-colored beverage. She'd kissed him, but that was all, apparently. "So if we didn't do anything dishonorable can you please explain why I am waking up in a room that is not my own in bed with a roguish pirate that has for some reason or decided to have honorable intentions?"

"We drank, we got drunk, you asked for stories of my adventures, and you understandably swooned at my tales of bravery. You kissed me, you passed out, and rather than walk across the island to your apartment I carried you upstairs to my room." Jack explained, his hands moving as he spoke, "As much as I would love to lounge in bed with you all day love, we have to get up and get ready to leave. Our boat won't be waiting all day, you know." He said, climbing over her to get out of the bed.

As they both slept in their clothes getting ready wasn't going to be a terrible feat, all Kat had to do was put on her boots and her belt and put her weapons where they belonged. She'd thought that her head hurt before, but even the small movements of getting ready were killing her. She attempted to ignore it and considered it punishment for being incredibly stupid the night before. In a matter of minutes they were walking the streets of Tortuga towards the docks. Kat passed a fruit cart and swiped an apple as she walked past and began to munch on it, hoping that having some food in her belly would help with her hangover. As they neared the docks she mulled over this morning. Jack had clearly proved himself to be someone that she could trust. Then she remembered what he'd said about the boat: not ship, but boat. The night before he'd been mum on the details of how exactly they were going to make their way to Jamaica. "Why, exactly, will the boat not be waiting all day?" She asked carefully, knowing that the answer wouldn't be desirable.

"Because the woman that I'm borrowing it from will more than likely be wanting to leave Tortuga this afternoon," Jack said with an air of nonchalance as he approached the docks and the _Jolly Mon_.

"If by borrowing you mean stealing," Kat said with a smile as he helped him to untie the boat and get underway.

"It's only stealing if you don't have any intentions of bringing it back," Jack explained, his pointer finger up, "I fully intend on returning this boat as soon as I have my beloved Pearl back."

"Naturally," Kat responded with a smile, "So you really think you're close then?" Now that they were underway she made herself comfortable, sitting against the mast finishing her apple.

"I do," Jack nodded, "If you weren't sure that I was why did you jump at the chance to join me?" He asked, flashing his golden teeth her way.

"How often does one get the chance to work for Captain Jack Sparrow?" Kat asked boosting his ego on purpose, hoping that answer would suffice. It sounded a lot better than her real answer: that she'd been stuck in Tortuga for a month because of the superstition that women bring bad luck. "How long do you think it will be until we reach Jamaica?" She asked quickly changing the subject.

"We should arrive sometime tomorrow, I think, if the winds are favorable." Jack commented, looking out at the vast open sea. The seas were calm, the winds were good, and the sky was blue. For that, Kat was thankful. One serious storm and they would have to swim to Jamaica.


End file.
